Author: staceyjaine

Stacey Jaine McIntosh is a USA TODAY Bestselling Author who hails from Perth, Western Australia where she resides with her husband and their four children. While her heart has always belonged to writing, she once toyed with being a Cartographer and subsequently holds a Diploma in Spatial Information Services. When not with her family or writing she enjoys reading, photography, genealogy, history, Arthurian myths and witchcraft.

29 Days…

Posted on by staceyjaine in NaNoWriMo 2013

Okay, so in my bid to get organized for NaNoWriMo, I’ve decided you’ll be heaving from me each and every day during the month of November. I know, you’re already sick of me aren’t you? Well, tough. 😀

Okay so, for those of you who don’t know my NaNoWriMo adventure began in 2005. I was 22 and seven months pregnant with my first son. I wrote 50k on a novel I called Red Rose Castle. And subsequently every NaNo novel since has had Rose imbedded somewhere within.

So this year, I thought I had the perfect title, but it’s no longer fitting, even though I love the cover art, I threw together. The problem with not knowing what your going to write about is that you can’t really slap on a title until you figure it out.

And so far, all I have is the genre. Paranormal Romance. I’m toying with a few very vague ideas right now. I have a few characters that are dying for attention. I guess we’ll see soon enough.

Countdown to NaNoWriMo

Posted on by staceyjaine in NaNoWriMo 2013

Okay, so it’s officially the 1st of October. Which means there are precisely 31 days until the start of NaNoWriMo. (that’s National Novel Writing Month, for those not in the know)

I’ve been participating since November 2005. During which time I’ve gotten married, had four children, been subjected to my mum passing away and moved five times. In fact now that my youngest child is 3, it feels kind of weird to be doing NaNo without that kind of crazy child filled drama in which to fit writing around.

I’ve only lost once, in 2008, the year my mum died and I plan to continue to keep up my winning streak this year. 50,000 words in 30 days. BRING IT ON!

Characters and their Names

Posted on by staceyjaine in NaNoWriMo 2013, Stacey Jaine McIntosh, Story of a Rose

You know, their kind of important. Apparently werewolves become tricky to name the more stories you write. As this story may eventually tie into my Zooey ‘verse it’s probably better to play it safe and not reuse character names. Lest I have another Zachary/Zackery/Zack situation on my hands. What can I say, I like the name Zac.

So with that out of the way. I’m going with Adrian. Maybe Taylor.

Suffice to say, there will not be a sequel in Rose’s future. Well, there better not be. I’m not sure yet, but she may have a sister.

The Thing About Vampires

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stacey Jaine McIntosh, Stuff

So, Vampires in fiction. It seems they are either loved to bits or hated with some kind of fiery passion better left alone.

For me though. Well I fell in love with Anne Rice in High School. Claudia’s story was just sad and I found myself relating to Jesse a little too much. All in all there’s a reason most of her books line almost an entire shelf in my bookcase. Joss Whedon is another that springs to mind who kept to the true Vampire mythology. Sure, Spike got around in the daytime but not without smoke or the occasional lit himself on fire moment.

I don’t personally write Vampires. They show up infrequently in my writing. And there’s a reason. It’s just too impractical to not get around during the day. Sure you could go the House of Night Series route and hold classes at night, have none of the characters swear and get your books banned in high schools across America. I shouldn’t poke fun. I am a fan of PC Cast, I just think she shouldn’t of collaborated with her daughter.

So it begs the question: How do you get around the sunlight will burn you dilemma? Well perhaps you don’t, you definitely shouldn’t have them sparkle. And Angel blood is a rather curious idea but all in all I think Vampires need to just stay in the shadows. Otherwise there is no mystery. They are just another bunch of long lived humanoids with annoying personality traits. And let’s face it, the fey have that covered.

Opening Lines

Posted on by staceyjaine in NaNoWriMo 2013, Stacey Jaine McIntosh, Story of a Rose

So, somebody needs to rescue me from not writing my NaNo novel. I just figured out the opening line. I always do it early. That way come 12:01am on November 1st I can jump straight in to the story. Instead of sitting there wondering what the hell am I going to write.

And on that note, here it is: He was standing right in front of me; I couldn’t move.

Still Got It

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stuff

So, what is it about guys that says the moment a girl puts on a dress it’s okay to whistle at them? Or in my case, honk. I’m completely invisible to the opposite sex in jeans and a t- shirt but bring out a dress and its attention overload. Sure it’s flattering but still. It’s just a dress.

Dear parents, you need to control your kids. Sincerely, non-parents

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stuff

Know what that feels like.

The Matt Walsh Blog's avatarThe Matt Walsh Blog

To the fan I lost yesterday:

I don’t owe you an explanation, but I thought I’d offer one anyway. I do this more for your sake than mine. You see, maybe, as you later suggested, I was in a bad mood. Maybe I could have been a bit more polite about it. Maybe I’m more sensitive to it now that I have kids. Maybe I’m just sick of hearing these comments about parents. Maybe I know that my wife has to take the twins with her when she goes grocery shopping sometimes, so she could easily be on the receiving end of your sort of bullying. Maybe I took it personally.

Whatever the case, there I was, walking down the aisles of the grocery store looking for the ingredients for a new chili recipe I wanted to try. I heard the kid screaming from a distance; the whole store heard…

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Inspiration

Posted on by staceyjaine in Dandelions, Scarlett, Stacey Jaine McIntosh

Well I came across the concept the other day in a book. Go figure. Sadly these days it’s a lost art. All my research is confined to the internet. Or it was until my husband broke his laptop, now we’re sharing.

Anyway, I’m writing a novel called Dandelions and the figure of Badb appeared within the working of it. Nothing new there, a lot of my characters worm their way into my books of their own accord. Anyway, for some reason she decided to appear in the form of a wolf, something, given her fey nature, I thought was inherently odd.

Idiosyncrasies aside I later found out, though said book above, that Badb has been associated from time to time with wolves. So all is not lost.

~*~

Image

My Post Just Disappeared

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stuff

Okay, so I wrote a somewhat epic post, citing all my lovely and shiny new followers then it disappeared into the equivalent of an internet black hole. Yeah, I took Geology in High School. I quit before I failed that too, along with English and Geography. If only my Dad would have let me take Drama instead. Maybe then I would have failed with flair. Meh, girl can dream.

So on that note, I have 31 followers, all of which I’m stalking,.. er, I mean following. So don’t go anywhere. If you do, I’ll hunt you down. Maybe throw a drop bear on you. Don’t know what a drop bear is? Well, don’t go anywhere and you don’t have to find out. 😀

Criticism

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stuff

So, I, like any other writer know how hard it can be to take criticism, especially when it comes to your own writing.

Recently I participated in a writing shoot out, in which the stories I wrote were not well received by some and I got a thoroughly mixed bag of scores. I’d been prepared for it though, having participated previously.

But to later be told by a fellow participant that they had the “displeasure of reading my work” was something that I found in bad taste and didn’t sit well with me at all.

Admittedly, I saw red, and I wanted to lash out. Only I didn’t. Not exactly. The first words out of my mouth were not expletives. It could have so easy been.

What I realized however was simple: This person did not know me. And in not knowing me he couldn’t judge me, or my writing, to the full extent. Telling me if I cannot fully commit to a deadline because of personal constraints, is, in a word, stupid. It was supposed to be fun, and it was up until that point.

However bad my writing may be, I’m aware of it, but at the same time, I must have some potential to have been published 6 times by three different anthologies.

I have something and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let the spark go out.

Oooohhhh! Shiny! (aka Stick-to-it-iveness)

Posted on by staceyjaine in Stuff

P.T. Wyant's avatarNovel Notes

We all know it happens.  We’re set on a project and are chugging along working on it when something else pops up.  Something pretty and shiny and new and we want to drop the current project and jump on this new one.

Why?

Because the new one is exciting.  It’s different.  It promises all sorts of things.  It is full of potential.  It is a new beginning.

But sooner or later that brand spanking new idea is going to stop being fun and is going to become just as much work as your current project.

Think of your novel as a relationship – a long term relationship.  You fall in love with the idea of it, you spend time getting to know it (plotting), and you commit yourself to it, to seeing it through, “for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, until ‘The End’ do us part.” 

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